MASARAT Institution for Cultural and Media Development launched the second phase of its campaign of combating hatred discourse against minorities of Iraq. The Institution conducted a workshop to exchange ideas in its HQ in Baghdad. Prominent leaders of communities of religious and ethnic minorities of Iraq, in addition to academicians specialized in media, Islamic sciences and sociology. Participants focused on a bundle of issues related to provocative speeches which encourage hatred against the Other. The dialogue focused on specifying the most common phrases and words used by the Media outlets when they refer to minorities, which are deemed offensive by leaders of these communities. At the same time, MASARAT Institution started a field study to see how far the common hatred discourse used by the media has influenced the attitudes of recipients, as a first step to compile a media guidelines book, for the first time in Iraq, to be a neutral and objective reference work to help those who work in media adopt a moderate discourse.
